This well-crafted play is a joint Koorliny Arts Centre and Kwinana Industries Council production, and can be seen at Theatre One, Koorliny Arts Centre, 20 Sulphur Road, Kwinana Town Centre at 8.00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights until 29^th August. There are two matinees, one on Saturday 22^nd and the other on Sunday 23^rd August – both at 2.00 pm. Kwinana is closer than you think.

The scene is an upmarket hair salon in north western Louisiana. The set is exceptional, with all the trimmings of a real beauty parlour (design Jon Lambert, Kate McIntosh, Ryan Taaffe: construction by Stephen Carr, Julian Williams). There are the hydraulic chairs, working sinks and washing sprays, electric drying hoods, trolleys with all of the necessities for hair and nail care. At the rear is a kitchen. To the side is the shop door leading onto a walled patio. The floor has a large tiled pattern. (Décor and props are by designers and Allen Blachford, Lee Germain).

The scene changes, under Kate McIntosh’s supervision, were some of the best I have seen. The stage crew, Jon Lambert, Allen Blachford, Brittany Kirk, and Josh Germain were outstanding, they knew precisely what was expected, they had their own tasks, moved in with the dimmest of light, replaced and removed props and left silently.

Alex Coutts-Smith’s lighting design was evenly spread over the large area (harder than it sounds), with one or two special effects (operated by Lee Germain). The sound was perfectly cued by Alex Coutts-Smith.

The costumes were perfect, from the designer label clothes of Clairee to the mad Christmas outfits – Lisa Watts excelled.

     We enter the salon as a young nervous girl, Annelle (Chantel Bell) is applying for the trainee’s job. The beauty parlour’s owner, Truvy (Natalie Burbage) is seated in the chair whilst scatty Annelle, totally lacking in self-esteem and with hands shaking, tries to impress her. Annelle gets the job just as a wealthy client, the former Mayor’s widow, Clairee (Sue Murray) arrives for her weekly trim.

     Truvy explains to Annelle that their main client today will be Shelby (Jamie Tunbridge), who is getting married that afternoon. No sooner has Shelby arrived with her mother, M’Lynn (Tracy Noble) when, being a diabetic, she has a hypoglycaemic fit. M’Lynn explains to the ladies in the salon that due to her type 1 diabetes, sadly Selby cannot have children.

   Momentarily, the peace is broken by the arrival of a brash and rough-as-guts farmer, Ouiser (Leanne Tunbridge), who wants to know all about Annelle’s past and has no qualms about telling the stylist what she thinks about it.

   Several months later, as Truvy is putting up the parlour’s Christmas decorations, Selby’s mum – M’Lynn – announces that she is to become a grandmother; Selby is pregnant and thankfully her diabetes seems stable.

   Will Shelby’s pregnancy go uneventfully?

What a ridiculous challenge to take on, presenting one of the cinema’s Top Ten ‘weepies’, but director Ryan Taaffe – assisted by Hillary Readings – has done just that, and succeeded ! The first hurdle to overcome was the Deep South accent. Wisely, the cast have been given just a hint of the twang, and not the full annoying drawl.

Annelle and Truvy were required to deliver their lines perfectly, whilst appearing to have all of the hair dressing, cutting and trimming skills of a real stylist. Because of the warm chemistry between the actors, the emotion and tenderness of the story built up beautifully, the audience really cared about the story’s characters. Annelle oozed insecurity, Truvy was the caring motherly type, even wealthy Clairee was loved in this small village and she loved back.

Shelby and her mother could easily have overacted and ruined the effect; instead they understated their parts and immediately captured the audience. Finally there was Ouiser, an absolute rat bag who treated everyone abruptly, but in the end showed she too was a compassionate part of the community. Some richly observed scenes, beautifully presented.

After adoring the film, you may be a little apprehensive in case you see a disappointing play, thus spoiling the fond memory. Don’t worry for a second, this is a powerful production, with all of the sentiment and comradery of the book and film – you will still need the tissue box.

This cast is as good as you will see anywhere, so try and catch this production, it deserves to be seen.

The show is part of the 2014 PrideFest, and so the Playlovers Group are holding a fundraiser event on Thursday 20^th November.

On entering, the theatre auditorium there is a warm welcome from melodious country singer, Bitsy Mae Harling (Jane Anderson), a solo player who can actually sing in tune and play chords rather than strumming. Jane also sang from her heart and with feeling.

 There are four very different and impressive sets, designed by David Gardette, that were all changed in total silence whilst Bitsy Mae sang. The first of the well-decorated and fully furnished sets is a scruffy home in Texas, the second a rough bar room, then a psychiatrist’s office and finally a funeral parlour. Damian Long’s stage crew of Bronwyn Hammond, Meg Adrichem-Considine, and Ian Griffin were exceptionally slick and perfectly organised.

        The lights dim and actor, Ty Williamson (Andrew Baker) takes a seat in front of the stage apron and pours out his heart. He explains how his has ‘come out’ as a gay, but cannot return to his home in Texas, because gays are still considered perverted individuals and are locked up in prison. Worst of all, how can he tell his mother, Latrelle (Alide Chaney)?

        White trash, Sissy Hickey (Grace Hitchin) is tidying her unkempt home when her neighbour, Noleta (Olivia Hogan) arrives. In her deep Texas drawl, Noleta apologises to Sissy for her husband having killed Peggy, her mother. It becomes clear that the Vietnam Vet, husband G.W. (David Nelson) had been having a one-night stand with Peggy, when she fell over his wooden legs and hit her head, killing herself.

        Ty’s mum, smartly dressed Latrelle, arrives at Sissy’s house along with the third sister, loud, bold and brassy LaVonda (Gillian Binks) to prepare for their mother’s funeral.

        In a nearby pub, G.W. and his friend, Odell (Jason Wall) are chatting to the barman, Bubba (Michael Balmer) when the doors of this male sanctuary fly open and two of the girls enter. They have just been to the cinema to see ‘Thelma and Louse’ and because they are now drunk, fancy themselves as the female gangsters. The three men will never be the same again!!

          The three sisters have a brother, Earl ‘Brother Boy’ (Clayton Zwanenburg) who, because he is besotted by Tammy Wynette, dressing like her and fantasising all day, was placed in a sanatorium for his own safety. We join his sex therapist, Dr Eve (Sue Murray) in her consulting room, as she tries her own method of easing Earl out of his ‘disability’.

What an amazing ride director David Gardette takes us on. He has gathered an extremely talented cast, with many major awards between them – and it shows. Their deep-south accent is particularly accurate, although initially a little annoying, the cast could not be faulted in their dialogue.

The characters were rich and demanded daring, energy-packed performances. Several of the cast were taken well outside their comfort zones, but they did this with courage and amazing humour. The language and some sexual descriptions made one or two of the audience gasp, but like it or not, this is REAL life. The performances were ALL outstanding, not a weak link anywhere, fantastic.

The wigs and costumes, designed by Terry McAuley and David Young, are wonderfully conceived. The style and colours made everyone chortle at times. John Woolrych’s lighting was well designed, and smoothly operated by Jacob Anderson. The sound effects required several very accurate cues, and the soundscape designer, Daniel Toomath, did not miss a beat.

This production was complex and had so many areas where a poorly focused team could easily have collapsed, however, this dedicated group were unstoppable. Not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you do not mind a politically incorrect script and damaging your retinas with one scene, you will love this very unusual comedy. A real, feel-good show.